Honda may cut hybrid production due to soft sales..! This is not good news..
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...EWS11/60413009

The headline is misleading. Only the hybrid Accord is going to be cut back - Civic and Insight sales are strong. Other articles also mention it's only the hybrid Accord sales that are bad.

Problem with the hybrid Accord is the mix of increased performance and price just does not have a lot of buyers.

60.3mpg lifetime - 71mpg in winter months

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"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

Honda also didn't say they were *canceling* the Accord Hybrid either. The HAH certainly has a justifiable existence, but it only makes sense for Honda to only make enough of these cars to meet proven demand.

Wow! Are Insight sales gonna top 600 this year?

Touché! The difference is that Honda is only *expecting* to sell a few hundred Insights each year. They wanted to sell a heck of a Accord Hybrids but haven't.

There's a thread discussing this here:
http://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/n...brid.6817.html

The Honda Accord Hybrid is a silly vehicle. Its too expensive for what it is to start with ( moves into Acura/Infinit/Lexus/ Volvo territory) and the mileage just isnt that impressive.



The HCH II is still in that somehwhat not too expensive category and gets great mileage as well. Thats the difference and the results speak for themselves.

While I agree the HAH is sub-optimal, Honda did an excellent job with what they had to work with, short of a bottom-up redesign of the car and engine. The entire point of the HAH program was to be the 1st to market for the species (family sedan). Mission accomplished. They wanted to sell 15000 last year. They came very close. Given better marketing and a choice of trim they would've done a lot better.

There was and remains a very very strong case for creating hybrid entries in the family-sedan market. No family sedan will ever match a Civic or Prius, on size alone. The TCH and Fusion hybrids will establish thesegment firmly in the industry, but they weren't the first.

The 08 (? 09?) re-design will very very probably have a 4cylinder HAH that will make the TCH look very 20th century on the highway, and probably give it a run for its money in town, as they evolve the HCH-II's EV further and implement it in the next-gen HAH. Never bet against Honda when it comes to squeezing energy from a drop of fuel.

I think the HAH will probably do just fine after a technology update. The base product, the Accord, is certainly an awesome foundation for a hybrid vehicle. My partner's 2001 i4 Accord has needed exactly *one* repair. That's not bad after six years.

The i4 engine would be an awsome mate for IMA-II. My partner already gets about 31 MPG from the base Accord. An inline-4 with the newer variable valve timing, Autostop, and partial-EV mode from IMA-II would probably boost a redesigned Accord into the low 40s for fuel efficiency.

Of course, it would certainly cut production costs if the HCH, HAH, and HFH all shared the same IMA.